In many applications, it is desirable to separate particles having different masses or sizes, particularly where such particles are microscopic in size, such as in the separation of particles of different proteins contained in a solution thereof. Many particle separation/fractionation techniques operate by batch processing in which the solution is either static or does not flow in a truly continuous manner through the separation apparatus.
It is desirable to provide for higher separation throughput by separating the particles from a continuous flow of a bulk mixture thereof in solution, separate outputs being used to continuously supply particles having different masses or sizes.